Somebody is to blame.
Flight 149: Hostage of War
The film enjoyed its world premiere at SXSW 2025.
"Bothsideism" ran rampant throughout the news media for decades. It was an attempt to give both sides of an issue an equal and fair opportunity to explain themselves.
Artfully directed by Jenny Ash, Flight 149: Hostage of War has no choice but to present only one side of an issue that affected hundreds of people, because the other side declined to participate in the documentary. Here is what is indisputable, however: an airplane enroute from London, England, to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, stopped for refueling in Kuwait on August 2, 1990.
In the early morning hours of that day, Iraq began their invasion of Kuwait. British Airways Flight 149 was not allowed to leave the airport. Instead, all passengers and crew were taken hostage by the Iraqi Army and detained in adjoining hotels, where they were held under armed guard. While in detention, some passengers were treated brutally; some were abused physically or even raped.
As the completely innocent passengers struggled to endure their harsh imprisonment over a period of days and then weeks, the British government claimed that the Iraqi invasion had begun after Flight 149 entered Kuwaiti airspace, a position that they maintained until late 2021, when a British intelligence officer revealed that, in fact, the invasion had begun before Flight 149 entered Kuwaiti airspace and could have been diverted to a safe location.
Eventually, the passengers were released. Women and children were released by the end of August 1990. The men were held as human shields in various locations; they were released piecemeal over the next four months.
Why would the British government fail to inform British Airways so that the plane could be diverted in time? Some passengers report that a mysterious group of men boarded the plane in London shortly before takeoff, their posture and bearing suggesting that they were military personnel. The British government has steadfastly denied and/or declined to comment on that possibility.
Upfront about its intentions, the documentary presents two prosecuting attorneys interviewing surviving passengers and crew about their experience, gathering evidence for a lawsuit that had been filed. Director Jenny Ash and cinematographer Jamie Cairney film these interviews from a variety of angles, some through glass, which refracts the image and maintains visual interest.
The engrossing testimony of the survivors is powerful. Listening to them talk, openly and honestly, about their horrible experience stirs empathy for what they had to endure. They started their trip with the greatest of hopes, for a variety of reasons, as they explain in their individual testimony. They ended their trip, emotionally traumatized for life.
What could compensate for what they experienced? The British government and British Airways owe them all personal apologies, as a start. As for anything else? Let's see what the British judicial system does.